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Seven-year-old boy beaten to death in China

A seven-year-old boy has been beaten to death in China for apparently wanting to go to school.

China correspondent Tom O'Byrne reports, the case has shocked education authorities and received widespread coverage in the state-run media.

The Beijing Legal Times reports the tragedy occurred last month in east China's Shandong province. In what it called one of the most horrific cases of violence against children China has ever seen, a man beat his seven-year-old son to death for wanting to go to school instead of working in the fields. According to a police report, the father became so angry at his son's refusal to help, he beat him with a stick over a seven-hour period, stuffing a piece of cloth into the boy's mouth to stifle screams. The man was arrested after neighbors reported the case to police. Education authorities have been worried about the widening urban-rural divide in China, which has seen rural families unable to afford to send their child to school.

23/04/2002 04:40:32 | ABC Radio Australia News

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